Mbeki Takes On Some Old Comrades.(President Thabo Mbeki, South Africa)(Brief Article)

The announcement was a bombshell. South African Law and Order Minister Steve Tshwete, the country's top law-enforcement officer, went on television last week to describe a plot to oust, and possibly harm, President Thabo Mbeki. The suspects: three leading black businessmen who also serve as senior leaders of the ruling African National Congress. The alleged crime: conducting a "disinformation campaign" to "undermine" the president that could lead to attacks against him. Security around Mbeki had been beefed up, Tshwete said, and the National Intelligence Agency was investigating. The president sounded concerned. In an interview the same night, Mbeki spoke of a "conspiracy... [by] some people who want to be president."

Succeeding Nelson Mandela was never going to be easy. During his 27 years in prison, he came to embody a people's drive for freedom. As president, he reached out to the country's former white masters. Sometimes given to rash comments, he was not beyond criticism. But his support within the ANC was unquestioned. Mbeki never had that saintly aura. A former exile, he maneuvered to defeat other candidates and win his place as Mandela's heir. But he has stumbled badly during the first two years of his five-year term, particularly in his handling of the AIDS pandemic and the crisis in Zimbabwe. Last week's soap opera may be the best measure yet of just how badly. On its front page, the country's leading political newspaper, the Mail and Guardian, framed a question once unthinkable: "Is this man fit to rule?"

Publicizing a dubious investigation seemed ...